Square Foot Gardening – the Fastest Path to Spring Planting
In most areas of the United States, spring is on the way. If you’re still worried about what to plant and where, you’re not alone. If you want to try companion planting but are intimidated by which plants can be planted with which others, I have a solution. Square Foot Gardening offers a wealth of pre-formulated plans for almost any size garden space, and the method relies heavily on companion planting.
What is “square foot” gardening?
The goal of the square foot method is simple: maximize the space you have by planting in a way that makes efficient use of all above- and below-ground space; This will also reduce the need for tillage and weeding. As a bonus, your plants will likely be less vulnerable to disease and pests because you’re diversifying what you plant rather than creating a big target for any one type of flower or vegetable.
The Square Foot Gardening Method is a brand name invented by Mel Bartholomew, for which there are both official books and an official website full of resources. However, many people have written about gardening in the yard, foothills, etc., so the concept is general.
Following the Chalk Method, or Free Moving
Bartholomew has a fairly prescriptive way of doing things: you start with a four-by-four-foot box and fill it with a very specific soil mixture (vermiculite, compost and peat moss or coir), and then literally laying a wooden lattice on the bed will allow a clear demarcation of the space.
If this seems too tough, you can try square foot gardening techniques yourself and either forgo the grid altogether or make temporary grid at planting time using PVC pipes or one-by-two wood planks. stripes. Lay them to one side, then perpendicular and plant. When you’re done planting, remove the pipes or wood strips and move to the next bed. While “Mal’s Mix” as he calls it isn’t bad, it’s a lot of vermiculite to get for outdoor use, and now we have a variety of other possible aerating minerals you can use instead, like perlite or lava material. stone. Peat moss is a dwindling resource, so most responsible gardeners have switched to coir. But this mixture doesn’t have sand, which is good for carrots, and if you don’t know what’s in your compost, you may still be missing many minerals. It’s a good idea to ask local gardeners where they get their garden mix and contact a garden center to supply a pre-mixed three- or four-part mix.
Recommended Products:
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Square Foot Gardening and Related Planting by Chauncey Cruz Jr. $21.47
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Square Foot Gardening: New and Expanded by James Paris $12.95
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Square Foot Planting Guide: The Easy Way to Grow Vegetables Audiobook by James Paris $4.99
Resources for Garden Layout per Square Foot
While “square foot” may mean that each plant gets its own area, it’s really just a way to start conceptualizing the space each plant needs in units. Once you know how much space is needed, you can start adding plants like LEGO. A tomato needs more space (one square) than a beet, which can fit in nine squares. Most plants fall into one of these categories: small (16 plants per square), medium (nine plants per square), large (four plants per square) or extra large (one plant per square). The Square Foot Garden Method Foundation offers several ready-made garden trellises for free on their website. An amazing chart to help you plan out the space needed for all your regular vegetables is at Garden in Minutes . This garden therapy post provides some examples of how a 16 square meter box can be arranged . VegPlotter, an online platform that helps you plan your garden, even has a new feature to help you plan your square footage.
To make it easier, try using a seeding square.
In most summer gardens you will use a mixture of seeds and cuttings. But for produce that can be sown over and over again, such as lettuce, radishes, beets, onions and carrots, you can use a sowing square . These handy nets have color-coded holes to help you figure out where to put your seeds to ensure they have the right place. Squares are always square feet. If you prefer to create your own seeding squares, instructions can be found here .
Square foot gardening can help you plan big while focusing on small.
Ultimately, the square foot method tries to get rid of how overwhelmed we are with planning an entire garden by asking you to simply visualize one grid and then iterate on it. Once you get the hang of it, you can play around with the grids. Until then, picking up or borrowing one of the many books mentioned above will give you access to all sorts of ready-made netting to keep your garden full.